1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for controlling a driving apparatus of a vehicle which includes an engine, a transmission for receiving the engine output to drive the vehicle for controlling the running thereof, and, more particularly, to a system for controlling the running of a vehicle suitable when the vehicle negotiates a congested road at low speed and is repeatedly starting and stopping and when the vehicle cruises on a relatively busy highway, and on an ordinary suburban road.
2. Prior Art
Hitherto, a speed of a motor vehicle has been controlled by opening or closing the throttle valve by pulling a wire, such as a piano wire, by means of an accelerator pedal for adjusting an engine output. Recently, as disclosed in "Isuzu Technical Report" No. 72, pages 7-20, a system has been proposed which includes an accelerator pedal disconnected from a throttle valve opened and closed by a sensor for sensing the depression of the accelerator pedal, and an electric motor for driving the throttle valve and a controller. This system is arranged so that, as shown in FIG. 1, the output of an accelerator pedal 50 is detected by a computer unit 52, the detected signal being processed to reflect the driver's intention. On the basis of information derived from a selector position sensor 54, a cooling water temperature sensor 56, an engine rotation sensor 58 for detecting the rotation of the engine EN, a gear position sensor 60, a vehicle speed sensor 62, and a clutch position sensor 64, a motor MT for regulating the opening of a throttle valve SV is operated, a clutch CL is connected and disconnected and a gear position of a transmission TM is controlled, whereby easy drive and low fuel consumption can be established.
A conventional vehicle control system being constructed such as described above, when a road is crowded causing consecutive motor vehicles to repeatedly start and stop, the accelerator pedal and the brake have to be depressed alternately. Under these conditions, a driver must constantly control an accelerator pedal being careful not to depress it excessively. As such, a driver will become fatigued over a period of time, thus increasing the probability of an accident.